Trust me, I work for the Government

Someone who hates Unions must have thought this one up. If the Japanese employees are willing to put up with this, how long before they try it here? RFID technoloyg is growing fast and the need to wear a company badge would take care of reading where you are.

After paying $21,000, factory management can simultaneously monitor the activities of up to 30 workers and then analyze and visualize the data collected (fee for a 3-day-analysis). Each worker has to wear a gyro sensor and an acceleration sensor at the ankle and a mini video camera in the shirt pocket.

From UnionMaine: I know it is hard to believe, but sometimes what is happening in the rest of the country doesn’t seem to affect us in Maine.This blog is aimed at Labor issues and this is probably one of the biggest stories going on in the Labor world at this time. We are in the middle of a fight for the EFCA, accross the country right wing nuts are ready to dump gas on a spark of labor troubles.The SEIU seems to be refusing to accept what is the basis for the EFCA.

In some locations employees have overwhelmingly signed cards saying that they want to leave SEIU and join the new NUHW (New United Health Care West) union. Representatives of SEIU have refused to accept the “card check” vote. WTF? (Where’s the Freedom?), not what you were thinking.

Are the troubles in California a power grab by local officials or a revolt against SEIU/Andy Stern?We are part of a National organization that is in the middle of a well organized fight for it’s image and tens of thousands of members.This is From the Daily Kos. Read the snippet and follow the link for an interesting story.

A majority of the workers from 350 healthcare facilities…representing over 91,000 California healthcare workers…have petitioned to be represented by the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) in just five weeks time.That includes an absolute majority of the 50,000 healthcare workers in California’s Kaiser network of hospitals and clinics. It also includes homecare workers in Fresno County …… That total also includes numerous workers at smaller facilities………..who gathered petitions from an absolute majority of the 500 healthcare workers at their two facilities.

Editor: (I would need proof of the absolute majority claim), a neutral party needs to verify the signatures in the same way the EFCA is would do,with a neutral vote counter and verification of eligibility. So far these are claims, not facts. )

Warning! Don’t Sign Away Your Contract Rights

Be careful about a petition going around that would put our jobs, wages, and benefits at risk.

Our SEIU UHW contract guarantees our:

Wages

Health benefits

Retirement

Job security protections

Grievance procedures and safeguards

In a bad economy, a strong union contract gives us peace of mind.

Sticking together in SEIU UHW is the best way for us to keep our contract in force, get involved in rebuilding UHW, and stand united with other healthcare workers to win higher standards, improved patient care, and universal healthcare.

We cannot let people divide us. We cannot allow people to confuse the issues. We’ve worked too hard and come too far to give up all that we’ve won with our union. We are the union, and our union is UHW – 140,000 healthcare members strong.

Let’s Not Lose What We’ve Won!Do not sign petitions to decertify or deauthorize our union. Do not sign cards to revoke your dues. These efforts will only help the bosses and weaken us in this critical moment when we need to stand together to fight the employer.

If we sign the petitions, they will have no obligation to honor our open contracts. If we revoke dues, our union, UHW, won’t have the resources to help members win better contracts, take on employers, or fight for universal healthcare.

It’s time to move past the divisiveness that has prevented us from focusing on what really matters – our contracts, our wages and benefits, our patients, and our communities. With SEIU UHW, we are stronger together.

And in “The Facts for UHW members” SEIU has this to say:

Facts for UHW Members

What is decertification?Decertification is a legal process for workers to stop being represented by a union.Once workers are no longer represented by a union, the union contract is no longer ineffect and management no longer has to bargain with the union or recognize unionstewards. The employer can discipline or fire employees for almost any reason. Theemployer has no obligation to maintain the wages or benefits in the contract.

What is deauthorization?Deauthorization is a legal process that means workers do not have to pay union duesas a condition of their employment. If the union security clause in the contract isremoved, it means the worksite will be like a right-to-work state. If workers vote fordeauthorization of union dues, it sends a message to management that the workersdon’t want to support or back the union.

What is dues revocation?When individual members revoke their dues authorization cards, it means that they aretelling the employer they don’t want dues deducted from their checks. Individualmembers may still have an obligation to pay dues under a union security clause. Inorder to make sure that everyone carries their weight, the union may have negotiatedcontract language that gives us a right to tell employers to fire employees who do notwant to pay dues.

What happens to our contract if we vote to join another union?If members vote out UHW and vote in another union, the employer has to bargain withthe new union. The employer does not have to agree to the same contract. Theemployer can stall and delay. The employer can tell the new union it wants to cut thewages and benefits and make lots of changes. If the employer and the new unioncannot reach an agreement and there is an impasse, the employer can implement itsfinal offer, no matter how bad it is.

What if I signed a card or petition and I changed my mind?If you signed a dues revocation form, or authorization form for another union, you cansign back up for UHW. You can sign a new membership card, dues deduction card,COPE card for UHW. You can also send a letter to UHW saying you want to stay amember of UHW and don’t want to be a member of another union.

In a bad economy, a strong union contract gives us job security. For more information,call UHW at 866-660-5235.

What do you think? Is the SEIU in trouble? What would you do to fix it?

The employee free choice act is the subject of a series of slick vicious lying ads.

The real problem is not the lies; the problem is that they are so well done that voters that are not familiar with the E.F.C.A. could be taken in by the lies.

The current ad makes a point of showing a “union thug” scaring an old lady into signing a card check form. Union thugs are going to be forcing other workers into signing these forms. I work with a lot of Union members many of whom are women over sixty years old. Many of these women are active in the Union as stewards and as organizers and have been involved it many organizing campaigns so it is only logical to think that they will be at the front lines when it comes to bringing the truth to unorganized workers.

I started trying to picture how this would play out in an attempt to organize a group of truck drivers or loggers.

Is this what the well paid out of state money is trying to tell us to be afraid of? Granny black belt?

What have Unions done for us? When the successes of Unions are listed and this is far from a complete list, the argument is often made that we have those things now so we don’t need Unions any longer. You don’t get to keep what you won’t fight for. If you are a State employee you are under attack. They want you to focus on any error the Union makes. They want you to pity them for having to pay Fair Share. Tell them this is what the Union has done for State employees, Fair Share payers included. This is what their out of State right to work employee hating supporters want you to lose.

An eight hour day.

A five day work week.

Health Insurance

Good Pensions

Paid Sick Leave

Overtime

Safe work places

Holidays

Paid Vacations

Family and Medical Leave

Higher wages for men, women, people of color.

Why are Unions under attack? Many reasons, but the main reason is because good Union jobs set the standard for fair treatment and respect for the employees. As long as there are good jobs employees for other companies will think they could improve themselves with a Union.

E.T.I. 2009Don’t forget to got to click on this link HTTP://UnionMaine.Informe.com everyone is invited to a wide open discussion of all types of topics. You want your blood to boil, listen to what some people are calling you. You want to be proud, listen to and participate in the debate as a proud Union member.

I still bet America wins. One Regan and two Bushes is not a poker hand I would bet on.

I won’t use fancy economics. Clinton’s economy had Surplus money and balanced budgets. Bush and Regan gave us monster deficits.

Between 1979 and 2003 the average income of the richest Americans more than doubled in real dollars, while that of middle-class Americans increased by only around 15 percent. By some measures actual wages have been going backwards for six years.

In thirty years mortgage foreclosures have increased five hundred percent.

It not “just” 49,000,000 Americans without health care, in the next two years at least 80 million adults and children, 85 percent of them working or the kids of working parents will go for some time without any protection against ruinous health costs that insurance offers.

Defined-benefit pensions that provided a predetermined monthly benefit for the remainder of a worker’s life used to be the norm, a reward for a lifetime of loyalty. The old reliable pension has been nearly destroyed by a mix of corporate greed and paid for politicians, destroyed with the willing help of Regan, and two Bushes. Corporations were released from pension obligations while paying top executives hundreds of millions in bonuses.

Our government and our largest corporations have partnered to increase costs to American families. This has all been done in the name of “Personal Responsibility”.

They say we have to cut costs to compete.

The average factory wage in much of China is thirty one cents an hour. Wal-Mart in China pays thirteen cents and hour. Do we need to work for 31 cents an hour to compete? Do we need to cut our pay to 12 cents an hour to compete with Chinese Wal-Mart factories?

The Republicans are selling their take aways as personal responsibility.

So what is wrong with Personal Responsibility?

Your employer will be more profitable and competitive if they don’t have to pay your health care. They will pay you more because their profits will be greater. Akk, Kaff, Wheeze, (Forgive me, I am choking on that statement). You will be careful it is your money. You will be careful not to send your kids to the doctor too often because it is your responsibility. Make sure little Sally really needs an emergency room after that fall off her bike. If you go broke, you should have worked harder, saved more. Anyway, your Sally might still live, even without that expensive treatment.

The lie about personal savings to cover health care and retirement is that the corporations want to get rid of the benefits but not raise wages to make the savings possible. If it is too expensive for them to provide the benefits, it is too expensive for them to pay you enough to pay for them. You won’t have any personal savings.

The Republicans proudly admit they want to get rid of the New Deal programs. What is still here from the New Deal of so many years ago? Social Security, which G. Bush tried to dismantle and give to the stock market to play with. Thank the voting geezers and the Unions for saving that. They vote. I vote too. We still have Medicare and Medicaid, which Republicans think both just waste money on the poor. George and friends still want to take Social security, company pensions, medical care, and children’s medical care and put it all on the individual with no safety net for unemployment or catastrophic health problems.

The number of employers offering health coverage to their workers keeps falling. The cost to the employees in real dollars and as a percentage of costs continues to go up and up. The number of employers paying full coverage is rapidly disappearing regardless of the profitability of the company. The Bush propaganda machine has spent years painting any employee receiving benefits as lazy, greedy or even worse a Union member. Talk shows talk about Union thugs and forgive millionaire drug addicts like Rush Limbaugh.

How long can government and Union employees hold on? Ask the UAW. We must build our political strength with politicians if we want to keep our benefits and our retirement. They are going to come after us with the argument that private sector employees are taking on more and more of their own costs and we need to share the costs.

As Union members, we must reach out to non union Americans and tell them who we are and what we want them to have. We must take the focus off the Republican attack. They are painting us as the devil so that no one will look at the $200,000.00 a year mercenaries in Iraq, Don’t look at private contractors feeding our troops and overcharging. Blame the Unions. Let us try to get the word out that we want all Americans to have security, health care, and a good retirement. The Republicans that don’t care how many people lose their benefits, they don’t ask that the benefits be restored, no, they look at government and Union employee benefits and demand that you have less.

On a note of hope. The Republicans wouldn’t bother hating us so much unless they were afraid. We vote. We vote in the highest percentages of any group. As a Union member your vote and your families votes frighten them.

“Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both” -Benjamin Franklin

E.T.I. 2009

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Employees receive increased vacation for increased years of state service:- seven hours of vacation per month for up to three years of service;- 8 hours per month for up to 10 years;- 12 hours per month for up to 15 years;- 14 hours per month for up to 20 years;- 16 hours per month for 20 + years.

Employees may opt for annual leave, in lieu of separate vacation and sick leave, and can opt to enroll in or leave the program each July.

Employees enrolled in annual leave receive combined vacation/sick leave of:- 12 hours per month for up to 10 years of service;- 16 hours per month for over10 years, to 15 years.- 18 hours per month for over 15 years up to 20years;- – 20 hours per month for 20+ years.

Nine hundred twenty (920) hours of vacation or annual leave can be carried into the next calendar year.

Employees must be paid for unused vacation or annual leave upon leaving state service.

Could make a great going away day and help make up for the cliff. What do you think? Should we go for something like this? Find the comments link under this post and leave your ideas.

E.T.I. 2009.Enter your Email and click Subscribe Me! To be updated with new posts.